Other
Scientific paper
Jul 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995gecoa..59.2749s&link_type=abstract
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 59, Issue 13, pp.2749-2756
Other
12
Scientific paper
We report measurements of rare earth elements (REEs) which show that these trace elements are being incorporated in modern coral in proportion to their seawater concentrations. Four Bermuda North Rock coral species, Diploria strigosa, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Montastrea annularis , and Porites astreoides and two Tarawa atoll samples of the species Hydnophora microconos were analyzed by TI-IDMS following cleaning techniques to isolate the lattice-bound REEs. Based on the replicate analyses of the same piece of Diploria strigosa , excellent reproducibility was achieved. The REE/Ca ratios (0.1-3 nmol/mol) of the Bermuda and Tarawa corals are similar to those of Cd/Ca, the trace metal with the lowest seawater concentration used in coral studies. With the exception of Ce, the distribution coefficients (e.g., D Nd = [Nd coral/Nd seawater] × [Ca seawater/Ca coral]) between Bermuda coral lattice and Sargasso seawater have fairly flat patterns across the REE series. The values of D range from 1 to 3, like those reported for other trace elements in corals. This suggests, but does not prove, that REEs are incorporated in the aragonite lattice of these corals. The shale-normalized REE patterns of the Tarawa corals also have seawater-like distributions; however, no local seawater data are available to calculate values of D . Two Bermuda species ( D. labyrinthiformis and P. astreoides ) have values of D for Ce that are high with respect to the D values of La and Nd, implying that there is preferential uptake of Ce into the lattice. This may be related to the fact that Ce is the only REE with an active redox chemistry in seawater. There is considerable interest in using the chemical and isotopic composition of coral as indicators of climatic variations. The combination of REE/Ca ratios and neodymium isotopic composition of coral has the potential to help understand important natural processes. A primary application could be directed toward a tracer for river water discharge in tropical regions and, by inference, a proxy for rainfall, climate variation, and weathering history. This application would exploit the fractionated composition of REEs in river water as a terrigenous signature in coastal corals.
Shen Glen T.
Sholkovitz Edward
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